The digital camera has the use of recording the data as material of composite image, for example. The composite image is used widely to print a photograph with the comment, a framed photograph seal, and so on. In the event that a frame image is printed so as to overlap with an object, etc., in some case a part of the object is trimmed by the composite process. In such case, if background data for composite are stored previously in the memory and then an area of the object that is synthesized with the background data and printed actually is displayed on an electronic view finder in shooting, it can be facilitated to record the object in an appropriate composition.
In JP-A-2001-45352, there is disclosed the digital camera that displays composite image data obtained by synthesizing the data representing the background and the data representing the object on a liquid crystal panel and then records such data in an external memory after the shooting.
In JP-A-2000-358206, there is disclosed the digital camera that records the data representing the object and the data setting a printing range used to print the data in conformity with an identification photograph, or the like, etc. in a memory so as to correlate them mutually and then displays the object image together with a frame indicating a trimmed area in printing as a moving picture on an external display.
As disclosed in above JP-A-2001-45352, the display of the composite image data, which is obtained by synthesizing the data representing the background and the data representing the object on the electronic view finder, makes it possible for the operator to check the result of the composite image.
Meanwhile, in the image composite process, in some cases the photographic image of the object should be allocated not to the overall composite image but to a part of such image, for example, the case that a New Year's card obtained by synthesizing the photographic image of the object recorded by the digital camera and the background data to allocate the photographic image to an almost half area should be printed, and so forth. In the conventional art, the method of controlling the electronic view finder suitable for the photographic image data used in the composite process, in which the photographic image of the object should be allocated not to the overall composite image but to a part of such image, has not been proposed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital camera, capable of making it easy to record image data used in a composite process in an adequate composition and also making it easy to grasp a play image of composite image while viewing image data used in the composite process in which a photographic image of the object is allocated not to the overall composite image but to a part of such image.